FreshgradeI am in the process of getting the Freshgrade program up and running. Freshgrade is an innovative program that facilitates communication between home and school. I am able to take pictures or videos of your child or his/her work and upload them to his/her Freshgrade portfolio. You are then able to view your child's portfolio. My understanding is that is a cumulative portfolio, which means that each year, it can be added to by next year's teacher, so that by the end of Grade 7 or 12, you would have access to several years of your child's work!Many of us are new to the program, so we are in the early stages of learning all of its ins and outs. Tonight I sent invitations to all the parents to view their children's portfolios and I uploaded an image of our social studies work which you should have access to once you have gone through all the prompts to make an account. I'm not sure what that entails at your end, but I do know there are some Freshgrade videos on youtube which may be helpful?! Thanks for understanding!

This week is Family Literacy Week. There are several free events scheduled around town this week that are worth checking out! It is also a time when we talk about how we balance our free time and how achieving a healthy balance includes lots of play time; outside time; playing with friends and integrating small amounts of screen time. The students will be bringing home the annual Unplug and Play challenges this week. They are challenged to reduce the amount of screen time they use daily and replace it with play!

Also, next month the school is holding an indoor Swap 'n Shop. If you have done any post-Christmas purging of gently used items, you can send them to school! The money raised will be used to ship a container of supplies to Nicaragua.

In early February, there is some time set aside for parent/teacher interviews. Unlike the fall interviews, these are held by request - yours or mine! Please know that if you have any concerns at any time, please contact me and we can easily arrange a time to meet. It's not necessary to wait for the formal interview times!

A really effective way to practise the red words is to use a multisensory approach. At school, some of the students follow these steps to learn how to spell the red words:1. Use the eraser end of a pencil and spell the word on the table. Underline it and say it. Do this 3x.2. Use your finger to trace the word on the table. Underline it and say it. Do this 3x.3. Tap down your arm once for each letter. Say the word while sweeping your hand down your arm. Do this 3x.4. Write the word 3x.